Solar Energy Collection

The origins of the Solar Energy Collection can be traced to the establishment of the Association for Applied Solar Energy (AFASE) in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1954. Founded to encourage research on solar energy and promote its use, the Association organized conferences addressing solar issues and began building its own library of technical literature. Prominent individuals involved in these early efforts included Dr. Jesse Hobson of the Stanford Research Institute, engineer John Yellott, and solar researcher Maria Telkes.

In the 1960s, the organization moved its headquarters and library to the ASU campus and reorganized to reflect a broader geographical scope. The resultant International Solar Energy Society (ISES) remained at ASU until 1970, at which time it relocated to Australia. Before the move, ISES donated its library materials and records to ASU to form the basis of the Solar Energy Collection. During the next decade, the volume of solar and other renewable energies holdings increased dramatically through acquisitions of personal papers of several research pioneers.

Materials in the Solar Energy Collection date from the late 1800s to the present. Collections include correspondence, technical papers, reports, conference materials, manuscripts, photographs, drawings, meeting minutes, printed matter, and some oversize materials that reflect activities in the research and development of various alternative energy technologies and their applications. These include solar space heating and cooling, solar thermal and photovoltaic applications, bioconversion, wind power, ocean thermal energy conversion, tidal and wave power, thermoelectric conversion, and others. Holdings described in the following section represent major individual collections within the Solar Energy Collection.